1. Field of the Invention
The invention generally relates to fishing accessories for rigging bait and, more specifically, to a device to simplify the handing and baiting of live eels when hooking them.
2. Description of the Background
Fishing with live eels is one of the most effective-ways of catching striped bass and other game fish, and eels have become the bait of choice for many charter captains. Live eels present a number of advantages, including: (1) they are extremely hardy; (2) they can live for weeks in a live bait well; and (3) their skin is tough and holds a hook. On the downside, eels are a notoriously difficult bait to handle. Eels used for bait typically have a length of 7″ to 10″, and their skin is coated with slime. They wriggle around, contorting themselves into a slippery, slimy ball, and are often capable of wiggling free from any attempt to hold them for baiting a hook.
Most anglers prefer to rig eels by hooking them through the lips, though others prefer the eyes or tail. For even the most experienced angler, it is very difficult to retrieve an eel from a bait container by hand, place it on a bait hook, and deploy it to a prime fishing hole without killing or losing the eel, getting slime all over, or knotting the fishing line.
A variety of methods and devices for hooking live eels have been proposed over the years. For example, some fisherman use ice to pacify the eels in the bait bucket, making it easier to catch them with their bare hands or gloves. Others drop rags into the bait bucket. Eels are tactile creatures and will try to work their way into nooks and crannies to hide. The eels will try to hide in the rags, and can be more easily hooked while confined therein. However, rags are prone to snagging with fishing hooks.
In view of the severe difficulty in baiting them, no matter the method, some fisherman have even resorted to bypassing live eel bait altogether and instead fish with dead eels or artificial plastic eel fishing lures (disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 6,073,383 to Ronnie Line issued Jun. 13, 2000). Neither of these alternatives is acceptable. Game fish such as stripers are highly selective and live eels are greatly preferred over dead.
There are no commercially-available devices to facilitate the hooking of live eels, and only one known patent effort. This involves a technique of slipping a noose over the eel's head and then pulling the noose tightly in an attempt to restrain the eel. U.S. Pat. No. 5,979,106 to Butler issued Nov. 9, 1999 shows a live eel fish baiting device having a yoke member in which an extensible loop is drawn tightly over the head end of an eel for immobilizing it while loading onto a fish hook, all without manually handling the slimy skin of the eel. This is similar to the known snake-catching nooses, but it is virtually impossible to get an eel submerged in water to place its own head in a noose. This usually results in the eel getting tangled around the noose. Moreover, they will shy away from the noose and, being tactile creatures, slither down to the darkest, deepest most confining nook or cranny that they can find. Even if the bait hook is successfully placed through the eel, it will likely be very difficult to release the eel from the noose.
There remains a need for a live eel hooking device that uses the tactile nature of these creatures to simplify hooking and substantially eliminate the hassles of fishing with live eel bait.